Tuesday, September 2, 2014

New Review for Laurel's Quest

I just received the review for Laurel's Quest which is posted below. Thanks to Anita Davison I also have a screen shot with Laurel's Quest in the side bar ad. Nice to see Laurel getting out and about so to speak. Laurel's Quest will be on Amazon Kindle Countdown in the US from September 8th to 15th and in the UK from September 19 to the 26th.

As promised her is the new review:

Laurel's Quest

Teenager Laurel reluctantly travels to Cornwall to visit Sarie, a family friend she has never met, but all her instincts tell her she should be at home in Canada with her mother who is dangerously ill. Her teenage angst and overwhelming feelings of rejection and loss are portrayed clearly by the author and I felt quite motherly towards Laurel, who clearly needed to be at home at such a time.

However she is soon drawn into the local politics of a Cornish village and its conflict among schoolfriends and neighbours. This is partly due to the fact Sarie is believed to be a local witch and her influence over Coll, Gort and Aisling, three young people who befriend Laurel, is frowned on - or maybe envied.

Coll introduces Laurel into the folk lore and traditions of West Cornwall on the train even before she arrives, so by the time she encounters her new hosts, talk of witches and magic is already part of her experience. Homesick and worried, Laurel is at her lowest ebb when she meets a White Lady at a rock pool who sets her a quest which ensures her greatest wish will come true. Laurel is not only that she needs friends to complete this yet to be revealed task with an enigmatic outcome. What exactly is the White Lady promising?

Laurel is a typical teenager in that she swings between happiness and despair. She also has a defensive streak she cannot control and her method of handling the local bully is to take a stick to him! Ms Bell takes the reader into a fantasy world of piskies, magical stones and pagan traditions, some of which I have never heard of, and I lived in Cornwall for several years! combined with some unpleasant adult behaviour the youngsters come up against. The author certainly gives Cornwall a unique and mystical character which is compelling to read as Laurel takes on the challenge set her.